November 17, 2015--After a little over one week into its #GivingTuesday campaign, the Northwestern Foundation & Alumni Association is excited to announce an additional pledge of $10,000 from alumnus David Johnson, a former student between 1972-1973.

May 20, 2013 -- Gary Adams of Sonic, in association with the M.D. Jirous Foundation, presented a $2,500 contribution to the Alva Sonic Scholarship to Skeeter Bird, Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation CEO. Each year, Gary and Karen Adams, owners of Alva’s Sonic Drive-In, give back to their community and Karen’s alma mater, Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

March 15, 2013 -- Supporting agriculture and education is not a new idea to Don and Wanda Campbell of Jet. The couple, who are both retired educators, established an endowed faculty chair in agriculture in 2007 at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. With the growing demand for quality agriculture education programs, the Campbells’ gift helped to build the excellent program that Northwestern now offers.

March 4, 2013 -- Qualifying Northwestern Oklahoma State University graduating seniors are invited to apply for the Outstanding Senior Award by the March 15 deadline. To be eligible, students must be a December 2012 or expected May 2013 graduate with a minimum of 60 hours completed at Northwestern. Applicants must have a 3.5 cumulative grade point average or higher and must not have been subject to academic or disciplinary action.

January 28, 2013 -- The 2013 Northwestern Oklahoma State University Sports Hall of Fame class will be honored at a luncheon in the Student Center Ballroom at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, and formally inducted during halftime of the men’s basketball game vs. Arkansas Tech University that afternoon in Percefull Fieldhouse. Past inductees will be recognized during halftime of the women’s game, which is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. with the men’s game to follow at approximately 4 p.m.

February 4, 201 -- The Northwestern Foundation and Alumni Association recently launched its redesigned website, www.nwfoundation.com. A mobile version of the site can be accessed on visitors’ tablets and smartphones.

November 9, 2012 -- Northwestern Oklahoma State University students contacted 1,093 donors to thank them for their generosity to the university as part of the Second Annual Northwestern Foundation and Alumni Association Thank-a-thon.

October 31, 2012 -- Just in time for the upcoming holiday season, friends and alumni of Northwestern Oklahoma State University and members of the Alva and surrounding communities are invited to a free holiday craft workshop Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 5:30 p.m.

October 2, 2012 -- At the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation’s Annual Meeting, CEO Skeeter Bird announced the Northwestern Foundation received a record amount of dollars in support of the university and its students. More than 800 donors gave $4,414,319 during the 2012 fiscal year, from July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012.

September 14, 2012 -- The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation will hold its Annual Meeting Saturday, Sept. 29 at 11 a.m. The meeting will be held in the Student Center Ballroom on Northwestern’s Alva campus.

September 13, 2012 -- The Northwestern Foundation and Alumni Association is offering an opportunity for students to showcase their talent and creativity with a chance to win up to $1,000 in scholarship support.

August 20, 2012 -- The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Alumni Association is offering a special weekend getaway package for Northwestern football fans wishing to see the sights of San Antonio and cheer on the Rangers as they take on the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners Sept. 22.

August 8, 2012 -- The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation and Share Medical Center Foundation are partnering to host a free Estate Planning and Asset Protection Workshop for Alva and area community members Saturday, Aug. 25.

May 4, 2012 -- Gary Adams (right) of Sonic, in association with the M.D. Jirous Foundation, presented a $2,500 contribution to the Alva Sonic Scholarship to Skeeter Bird, Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation CEO. Each year, Gary and Karen Adams, owners of Alva’s Sonic Drive-In, give back to their community and Karen’s alma mater, Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

April 25, 2012 -- Twelve Northwestern Oklahoma State University seniors receiving the Outstanding Senior Award are among the award recipients at this year’s Spring Reunion Day Awards Ceremony April 28 at 5:15 p.m. in the Student Center Ranger Room on the Alva campus.

April 9, 2012 -- “I love music, but I’m not talented,” Joe Shirley said, humbly if not honestly. “Music was how I got rid of stress.” For Shirley, a 1970 English graduate of Northwestern Oklahoma State University, music was an escape. Born and raised in Alva, he fondly recalls his five years playing the French horn in the Northwestern band, marching and adding pep at ball games.

November 11, 2011 - Skeeter Bird, Northwestern Foundation CEO, announced the Northwestern Foundation fiscal year 2011 closed with a record amount of dollars received in support of the university and its students. More than 800 donors, including 54 percent of faculty and staff, gave $3,555,356.17 during the last fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2011.

Nov. 2, 2011 - Just in time for the upcoming holiday season, friends and alumni of Northwestern Oklahoma State University and members of the Alva and surrounding communities are invited to a free decorating workshop Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 5:30 p.m. in the Student Center Ranger Room on the Alva campus.

October 31, 2011 - Last week, Northwestern Oklahoma State University students called hundreds of donors to thank them for their gifts to the university as part of the first Northwestern Foundation and Alumni Association Thank-a-thon.

The deadline is approaching for Scholarships Matter!, a contest that allows Northwestern Oklahoma State University students to showcase their creativity with the chance to win up to $1,000 in scholarship support.

September 29, 2011 - The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation will hold its Annual Meeting Saturday, Oct. 8, at 11 a.m. The meeting will be held in the Student Center Ranger Room on Northwestern’s Alva campus, and a reception will follow in the Student Center Ballroom.

Beginning next fall, Northwestern Oklahoma State University students will receive scholarship support from the newly established Rule of Law Education Fund. The fund, totaling $500,000, was endowed by order of the Honorable Gerald H. Riffe, associate district judge for the District Court of Beaver County, as part of a class action cy pres distribution in which Northwestern is a beneficiary.

Northwestern Oklahoma State University students, faculty and staff are invited to celebrate the start of the fall semester at the Holler Back Breakfast Aug. 15 outside the Student Center on the Alva campus.

The Northwestern Foundation is accepting nominations through Aug. 9 for the Donovan Reichenberger Fundraising Award, named for Donovan Reichenberger, former Northwestern faculty member and current Northwestern Foundation Investment Committee chair.

Rachel Wilczek, a Northwestern Oklahoma State University junior and Lomega High School graduate, is the 2010-2011 recipient of the Mrs. W. W. Starr Business Scholarship presented by Skeeter Bird, Northwestern Foundation CEO.

The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation announces the addition of Susan Holliday to its staff. Holliday has joined the Northwestern Foundation as relationship manager and is responsible for increasing the size and quantity of Northwestern’s gifts through better identification, cultivation, and stewardship of Northwestern’s current and potential donors.

Qualifying graduating seniors are invited to apply for the Outstanding Senior Award by the March 25 deadline. To be eligible, students must be a December 2010 or expected May 2011 graduate with a minimum of 60 hours completed at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Applicants must have a 3.5 cumulative grade point average or higher and must not have been subject to academic or disciplinary action.

“The first step I wanted to take for the Northwestern rodeo program was securing new facilities, and thanks to the generosity of Don and Phyllis Campbell and the efforts of the Northwestern Foundation and the university, that vision has come true,” said Shannon Frascht, Northwestern Oklahoma State University rodeo coach, as he announced a gift by the Campbells, of Alva. The gift will provide the future site of Northwestern’s own rodeo facilities.

Hockey fans and friends of Northwestern Oklahoma State University can show their support of the Northwestern Foundation by purchasing tickets for the Oklahoma City Barons Feb. 4 game vs. the Peoria Rivermen. The Barons Miracles on Ice Night is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at the Cox Convention Center Arena in Oklahoma City.

As a member of Rebekah Lodge #44, Doris (Sternberger) Schupbach was inspired to give to Northwestern Oklahoma State University after the Alva Odd Fellow Lodge #43 and Rebekah Lodge #44 Scholarship was endowed in 2009. Members of the Rebekah Lodge, meeting in Schupbach’s Alva home, wanted to help the community and decided giving to education at Northwestern was a good cause, she said.

Athletes who played on Newby Field from 1930 to 1968 are invited to witness the unveiling of a marker identifying the former site of the field Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. A stone monument and bronze plaque will be dedicated just outside the north entrance of the J.R. Holder Wellness Center on the campus of Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva.

Nominations will be accepted until 5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 24 for the annual John Barton Distinguished Teaching and Service Award. The award carries an honorarium and a plaque, which will be presented to the winner at the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Faculty and Staff Recognition Nov. 16 on the Alva campus.

Northwestern Oklahoma State University students, faculty and staff are invited to celebrate the start of the fall semester at the Holler Back Breakfast Aug. 16 outside the Student Center on the Alva campus.

Each year, Gary and Karen Adams give back to their community and Karen’s alma mater, Northwestern Oklahoma State University. To date, their annual gifts to the university have formed a scholarship endowment worth more than $20,000.

Eight graduating seniors receiving the Northwestern Outstanding Senior Award are among the award recipients at this year’s Spring Reunion Day Awards Ceremony April 24 at 5:15 p.m. in the Student Center Ranger Room.

On Tuesday, April 6, Northwestern Oklahoma State University will take on East Central University in a nine-inning baseball matchup at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid. The 2010 Ranger team includes Enid High School graduates junior Clint Dodds and junior Richard Burdick.

Huge potential is what the James Ellis family sees in Northwestern’s campus in Woodward. This vision led Ellis, who has been contributing to Northwestern for several years, to endow a second scholarship—the James C. Ellis Woodward Psychology Scholarship.

Sue (Hildreth) Fellers sat at the piano in a Cherokee nursing home, pressing the keys to bring memories and enjoyment to the residents in the form of hymns and ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s tunes. What started as a room with only two sleeping ladies swelled to a roomful as Sue’s piano playing attracted others. Soon, she noticed many in the room singing along, and Sue thought to herself, “Who will do this if we don’t have musicians. It’s just not the same as pushing a button.”

Decades in the education field and a lifetime of connections with young people led Clara Simon to establish an endowed scholarship at her and her husband Dean’s alma mater, Northwestern State College, now Northwestern Oklahoma State University, in 1996. The scholarship, for students in Northwestern’s teacher education program or for those pursuing a health-related degree, was a fitting choice for the lifelong educators.

An annual event encouraging the Alva community to invest in the students of Northwestern Oklahoma State University is on the horizon. The Northwestern Foundation’s Alva Scholarship Drive is set to kick off Feb. 24 and will wrap up March 24 as the off-campus and on-campus teams tally their totals.

The 2010 Northwestern Oklahoma State University Sports Hall of Fame class will be honored at a luncheon in the Student Center Ballroom at 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 13, and formally inducted at halftime of the Ranger men’s basketball game against Mid-America Christian University that afternoon in Percefull Fieldhouse. The women’s game will tip off at 2 p.m., and the men’s game is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Ranger football teams at Northwestern Oklahoma State University for 40 years battled their opponents on Newby Field on the southeast corner of campus. But Newby Field is no more. Northwestern gridmen moved their games in 1970 to more spacious and modern facilities at Ranger Field. Newby Field in time became the site of the J. R. Holder Wellness Center and a half dozen tennis courts.

An anonymous donor has contributed $50,000 to the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation to establish the Linda J. Stewart and Kimberly K. Weast Theatre Scholar Award and is issuing a challenge for the gift to be matched.

Families of all Northwestern Oklahoma State University students are invited to the Alva campus Saturday, Sept. 12, for annual Family Day festivities, including the chance to win tuition waivers for the spring semester.

The Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation will hold its Annual Meeting on Friday, September 11 at 4:00 p.m. It will be held in the Student Center Ranger Room of Northwestern’s Alva campus followed by a reception upstairs in the Student Center Ballroom. The Foundation is celebrating 50 years of providing scholarships to Northwestern students and assistance to the university.

The family of the late Dub Garnett has donated $20,000 to endow the W.G. “Dub” Garnett Memorial Scholarship through the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Foundation. This scholarship is Dub’s perpetual gift of help for those who need it. Any student with a 2.5 GPA living in Woods County or northwest Oklahoma may apply for this scholarship with preference given in business or agribusiness.

Eight members of the Class of 2009 at Northwestern Oklahoma State University will be honored as Outstanding Seniors at the Northwestern Foundation’s Special Awards Presentation at 6 p.m., Saturday, April 25, in the Student Center Ranger Room.

The Northwestern Alumni Association Annual Spring Reunion weekend has been scheduled for April 24-26. A schedule of events has been released outlining a fun weekend for alumni and friends to reconnect and remember their time at Northwestern. This year’s honored classes are the class of 1939, 1949, 1959 and 1984.

A great debater. Sports fanatic. Family man. Billy Parkenfarker? All of these can be attributed to one man, Don Benson. In his 70 years on this earth, he did the things he loved and loved the people that surrounded him, none more than his family. So it was only right that the family he loved establish a scholarship in his honor. The Don and Donna Benson Family Scholarship was established for students attending Northwestern Oklahoma State University.